Is This True?

A store that sells new husbands has just opened in London. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates:

You may visit this store ONLY ONCE!

There are six floors and the value of the products increase as the shopper ascends the flights. The shopper may choose any item from a particular floor, or may choose to go up to the next floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!

So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband. On the first floor the sign on the door reads:

Floor 1 - These men Have Jobs. She is intrigued, but continues to the second floor, where the sign reads:

Floor 2 - These men Have Jobs and Love Kids. 'That's nice', she thinks, 'but I want more. ' So she continues upward. The third floor sign reads:

Floor 3 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, and are Extremely Good Looking. 'Wow,' she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going. She goes to the fourth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 4 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Good Looking and Help With Housework 'Oh, mercy me!' she exclaims, 'I can hardly stand it!' Still, she goes to the fifth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 5 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Gorgeous, Help with Housework, and Have a Strong Romantic Streak. She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor, where the sign reads:

Floor 6 - You are visitor 31,456,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store.

The Girls Have Gone In To Brisbane

Rainy flew in as expected lunchtime yesterday and was met by Trish at the airport. It was great catching up with all the news and enjoying a few drinks. Trish made a garlic prawn dish with spaghetti for our dinner last night, it was sensational. Both Rainy and Trish hit the sack about 8:30pm. Rainy had a favorite TV show she wanted to watch and Trish had had a big day.

This morning the two ladies were on their way to Brisbane by 8:30 am. They were driving about 1/3 of the way in and then catching a train. I think the RSL is on the agenda for our evening meal tonight depending on how the day goes. Yesterday they had done a bit of "Googling" to research Brisbane shops which sold "Pandora" jewelery.

Meanwhile the brew I put on early last week was ready to be bottled. But before that I made another brew, this time it is just a 'plain' Brewmaker's Old which is a black beer (see below). The kitchen was filled with an empty brew mix can, containers for transferring the filtered water to the brewing container and 400 grams of sugar and other requisites to get the brew underway. The photo to the above left shows how the kitchen was looking.


By 10:30 am this morning the new brew had been made and the Gold with Lime had been bottled, labelled and put away.

Visitor Arrives For A Weeks' Stay

A former neighbour from our times in Melbourne is spending a week with us, arriving about lunchtime today after her flight up from Melbourne. Trish especially is looking forward to Rainy's visit. A stop off at "Dan Murphy's" will be in order to ensure stocks of wine are up to scratch is a 'must do' on the drive from the airport back to our home.

On Friday the blind to block us off from next door was installed. It makes quite a difference (the before pic is below) and gives us more privacy than we had before. The next door dining room window virtually overlooked our patio area. As the property next door is currently a 'rental' property, we are never sure who our neighbours are going to be. The blind was not needed when we first moved in, however with younger families now occupying the house a blind has become a valuable addition to our home.

The weather is cooling off. We no longer have the ceiling fan on overnight. Last night we slept with the front door closed, the first time we have done so in about 4 or 5 months. The Doona is now seen as a must have to keep warm in the mornings. I did get a swim in the pool Friday afternoon but the pool is now peaking at about 22 degrees mid afternoon. I tipped 8mls out of the rain gauge this morning following some short sharp showers throughout yesterday.

During Rainy's visit we expecting more showers for the early part of the week with maximum temps around 26 or 27. Overnight it is now 18 or 19.

We have been watching heaps of live sport on TV now the Australian Rules footy season has recommenced. We now get great coverage here, especially if you have Pay TV. Nearly all games are available to us live which is great.

Daylight saving finishes in much of this country next weekend (the first weekend in April) so at last our state Queensland will be back in line with all other eastern Australian states.

Wow, It's Tuesday!

Just checked the blog and saw it has been a few days since a post so here we go.

Sunday morning Trish and I 'did' the Sunday Market in main street, Caloundra. This market as really come ahead in the last year or so and now takes up the complete main street of Caloundra. There are now a few fruit and vegie stalls as well as all sorts of bit and pieces. There is no longer a need to head to the "Famous" Eumundi Market coz it is all now here!

Monday was very much a hands on computer day. Neighbours had recently put their PC in for a new disk drive and get some RAM replaced. When they got it back much of the software had been updated and their new version of Internet Download Manager was demanding to have a legal serial number before it would work. We got it all back again and installed Internet Explorer 8 which fixed problems they had with IE7.

Much of the rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent around at a friend's place getting him ready to download movies. I had to set him up with Winrar, Internet Download Manager and show him the workings of Rapidshare and a few of the movie download sites. We also sorted him out with a new and less intrusive Anti-Virus program as well as a much easier to use firewall.

The later in the afternoon I was in town helping another 'friend' who was being told she had an illegal copy of Office 2003. I was able to fix all that up for her too! I am back there tomorrow to sort out her Anti-Virus program as well as her Internet Firewall too. It is great to be able to help some people out with their computer problems when I can.

It is beginning to cool off a little. We no longer run the ceiling fan all night and we have even reached for the doona in the early hours of the morning. This had had an impact on the pool temp too so my quick swim after my daily bike ride is now better described as 'bracing'.

Last night it was off to the Bellvista Community Association Public Meeting. I have created a Blog site for them and it received some wonderful feedback on the blog site from those at the meeting. I have also been creating a basic online website for them too and a draft version can be seen online at http://beca.izfree.com/default.htm Have a look!

This afternoon Trish is doing an afternoon's volunteer work for the Caloundra Tourist Information Office. She meets lots of interesting people there and loves the half day out.

Tomorrow morning Trish is off to Stitchers and I am off around to a mate's place to swap movies and also pick up a few tips on fixing up photos. If you go back to the Friday March 20th post you will see a photo John has worked on and improved out of sight! Hopefully I will be able to do some of that too after tomorrow's lesson!

Trish's friend Rainy from Victoria is spending a week with us beginning on Sunday. I put another brew on this morning too! It is just beginning to 'bubble' now. Our daughter Kim is looking to buy another car and is off looking at them tonight.

Overnight "Showers"

The weather has been showery the last few days. But then March is one of our wettest months of the year so to have some damp weather is to be expected. Though it is overcast, the temperature remains in the high 20's. We had a few showers yesterday (Fri) morning but it was still hot enough to dry any washing which was still wet when it was put out between showers.

Just as Trish arrived home after Quilting and doing some grocery shopping at about 1:15 pm we had a very heavy shower, like 25mls in less than 15mins! Usually it is hard to capture the rain in a photo but it was no problem yesterday. Click on this photo for a larger view, then hit "Back" to return to this page. Within minutes the area on the back fence side of the pool began to flood so I removed the 'observation' lid to allow the excess water to escape. Despite the heavy rain, the front street which usually floods during such a downpour did not as you can see from the shot below.

Showers continued throughout the afternoon, overnight and into the morning. This morning the rain gauge held 101mls, just over 4" of rain had fallen during yesterday afternoon and overnight! No bike riding or watering was able to be done this morning.

It is state election day here in Queensland. Lou Ann, voting here is compulsory, failure to vote attracts a hefty fine!

Back Home Again On The Sunshine Coast

We winged our way home on Wednesday arriving to an overcast sky and temperatures in the mid 20's. We had had 40mls of rain that morning in a very short time according to a neighbour. Unpacking took its time and the washing machine was pressed into service. We had some great memories, especially catching up with so many people at Trish's birthday party.

This is a shot of my sister who drove a long way to be at the party and me. It is always good to catch up with family and friends.

We had spent the previous afternoon (Tues) with Chris, Wendy and the grand children Andrew and Emily. Another good chat was had and we played a bit with the kids. Wendy cooks pretty well, good country style, so we both slept OK on a full stomach. Chris had us at the airport by 9 am and in plenty of time to catch our flight.

We have really just dawdled about the last day or so. Trish is at Quilting this morning and then will do a grocery shop before arriving home later this afternoon.. I have just about updated all my PC stuff and I have had a play with the slide copying gadget I bought online just before we headed south. It was actually delivered to Kate's in Melbourne while we were there. It works much better than the previous one I had and returned. Yesterday I managed to 'convert' almost 100 slides to digital pictures (each one about 700kb so reasonable quality) in well under an hour.

The color in the slides has faded a fair bit so it is difficult to do 'photo improvement' on the computer after converting them. Much of the color just no longer is there. This shot was taken when we lived in Penang in Malaysia during the late 70's. (That is 30 years ago!) That is our youngest daughter Kim sitting on the fallen palm with me on a beach at the north end of the island. The photo has 'blue' tinge to it as I tried to brighten it up.

A friend of mine from the computer club has reworked the photo, looks much better now doesn't it? The first copy that I made before it was redone is centre below.


I now stand before you as living proof that you CAN fatten a thoroughbred!

The Penang Snake temple is quite a tourist attraction today. This is another photo from the 70's slides and shows the older two children, Chris and Kate looking closely at a 'deadly' viper at the Penang Snake Temple. The snakes seemed pretty conked out from memory and I also believe they had had their nasty bits removed.

Head Back North Tomorrow

The Indian meal at Hallam on Saturday was great. Being BYO (Bring Your Own drinks) helped too. We had plenty to eat and great company. The food was very nice, this will be a regular spot from now on during our trips to Melbourne.

Sunday was spent at Trish's brother's place doing some work with emails and movies on his PC. Again a great meal, pleasant company and yours truly surrounded by a new PC ensured a great day. However as far as the grand children were concerned, the fish and chips we brought home for tea was easily the best part of their day.

Monday saw us catch up with Pat and Graeme who live nearby. It was a lovely lunch and a few drinks and a good chat made for a pleasant afternoon. We left a few movies with them also. Last night I watched the movie "Hunger" on the laptop (screenshot on the left). It tells the story of Bobby Sands, the guy who starved himself to death in the Belfast's Maze Prison. It was not a story for the faint hearted.

Since Saturday the weather has been cool, overcast and showery. The rain gauge had 31 mls in it from all the recent rain when I tipped it out earlier today. Later today we will be driven over to Chris' home to spend the night. Our flight leaves at 10 am Wednesday and as Chris lives very near Melbourne Airport it was make for a leisurely trip to catch our plane tomorrow.

Teddy

I get some emails from various people, one is an elderly member of the Computer Club on the Sunshine Coast. Edie is in her 90's and sends me emails with some jokes and comments. I usually read them very quickly and then I store them away. Today she sent me this story. As a former teacher with a strong commitment that schools are meant for teaching children not subjects, this long story below hit a real spot with me. I hope you enjoy it too.

As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big 'F' at the top of his papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise. Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, 'Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners... he is a joy to be around.'

His second grade teacher wrote, 'Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle.' His third grade teacher wrote, 'His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest, and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken.' Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, 'Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class.'

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume.. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, 'Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to.'

After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her 'teacher's pets..'

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honours. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favourite teacher he had ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favourite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer.... The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.

They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, 'Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference.'

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, 'Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you.'

(For you who don't know, Teddy Stoddard is the Dr. at Iowa Methodist in Des Moines that has the Stoddard Cancer Wing.)

Why Don't You Bring Some Of That Rain With You!

Living in the sub tropics means we get a lot more rain each year than what Melbourne gets. Often people say to us when we are about to head south for a visit, "Bring some of that rain with you!"

I am pleased to say that even though we have been in Melbourne for almost two weeks, at last some of the rain has arrived. This morning the sky turned black and there was a sudden coolness in the air. Then down it came, the best part of 20mls fell during the day giving Melbourne its best daily rain tally for several months. So glad we could be of help to everyone.

On Friday we again returned to Springvale with friends for Vietnamese food for lunch. It was a leisurely visit this time with time for a good look round through the shops. I found an item or two I had been keeping my eyes open for. The food was sensational and cheap, the company (Eddie and Patsy) great fun to be with.

Last evening we visited other friends for roast lamb for tea and I set up a digital set top box for them on their TV. After setting it all up, it was time for a couple of beers, some red wine and to watch the footy. I was back there again today to set up another set top box on another TV for them.

Tonight we out to an Indian meal with friends Gordon and Anne.

Cyclone Hamish And The Oil Spill.

We are still in Melbourne but we are hearing a lot on local TV about the container ship which lost over 30 containers off its deck during the last throes of Cyclone Hamish a day or so ago. It seems that one of the falling containers has split open the side of the container ship causing a huge oil slick to spill into the sea.

The spilt oil has then drifted onto the Sunshine Coast devastating 8 kilometres of prime surf beaches. The local councils busily set about removing the oil with heavy machinery when they were told to stop using machinery and resort to cleaning up by hand using rakes and shovels by the Environment Protection people. This would take an incredibly long time if it has to be cleaned up by hand.

I also heard there was 30mls of rain overnight at home.

Still In Melbourne

Tuesday was spent fairly quietly. I have managed to book myself up to see quite a few people throughout the rest of the time here in Melbourne.

On Wednesday I caught up with a Peter who was the School Council President when I was a principal at Doveton North Primary School. Peter's wife Helen is much improved but wasn't there when I visited, she was visiting her sister down in Gippsland. Helen had travelled there by train! It had been a while since I saw Peter so it was great to catch up.

Arj's computer has Windows XP and it didn't complete an update to SP3. I tried again on Wednesday and again the thing would not update. It will now stay with just SP2 on it. Trish went to see Billy Elliott on Wednesday night with 'the girls' while Arj and I stayed home and did some baby sitting.

This morning I had a movie swapping morning on with Jan Fitzpatrick. Lou Ann, I hope I have Jan organized to join Facebook now too! Get ready for your 'invitation'!

Some baby sitting again tonight before catching up with Eddie and Patsy for Vietnamese lunch on Friday. Then it is out for dinner and I have a digital set top box to set up before we enjoy a few drinks and watch some Aussie Rules football on TV!

Happy Birthday Trish

Friday was again mainly spent with getting items for Trish's 60th birthday party. We completed all purchases during Friday and then things were ready to go for the party on Saturday night! We went out for tea with Kate, Kim and the grandchildren to our favorite Malaysian restaurant. The kids loved it! Our table (and the floor underneath) looked like it had been hit with a cyclone. There was a lot of rice on the floor but James does like to feed himself.

Saturday was the big day! The party was a huge success with close friends and family in attendance. There was too much to drink and too much to eat! We had a guy come round and serve Sri Lankan hoppers, a crepe like crispy edible bowl filled with curry and sambal. Nearly everyone got stuck into it and the results were universal, the hoppers were a great success. This photo shows our family after everyone had sung "Happy Birthday" and the blowing out of the candles had been completed successfully.

The cake was sensational!

The last of the guests left at about 2 am. Cleaning up the next day was slow and methodical. But it was soon all completed. By lunchtime Sunday, things had been tidied up. Trish received a Pandora's Bracelet for her birthday and guests then brought her trinkets and add ons for the bracelet. It will be a great reminder of her 60th birthday!

Monday was a holiday in Melbourne so it was back to the jewellers to buy more trinkets for the Pandora's Bracelet. Some guests had given Trish cash to buy more trinkets of her own choice. The bracelet as a gift had been a great idea.

Then it was out to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant on Monday night with friends who had travelled down from Newcastle to attend the party.

Again our time in Melbourne had been fun and fattening! And on Monday it was warm enough to get back into short trousers!

Shock Horror On Arrival In Melbourne - No Internet!

Our trip down to Melbourne was as usual, a bit of a hassle but OK.

In Melbourne the weather was overcast and grey. The temperature was in the mid to high teens. From the air Victoria looks like "the moon". Everything is brown from the extreme heat and lack of rain. The state has had less than 10mls of rain so far for all of 2009. There had been 10mls or so of rain overnight which had been the wettest day so far for the year. People's front lawns no longer exist. Everyone was enjoying the cold overcast weather after what this state had been through with the recent fires

We were collected from the airport by the lad (Chris) and spent a lovely evening with his family. Our daughter Kim joined us for the evening meal and then transported us to her place just south of the city where Kate came over and collected us in the "Telstar", our "Melbourne" car upon which we had spent over $2000 having the gear box recently replaced.

It was then Kate told us the devastating news, their internet connection was down at her home and they didn't have any idea when it would be back up again! Fancy, me having a day (or even days) when I couldn't get on the internet! The 'net' was down for just the one full day.

Our first full day was spent getting some items ready for the party on Saturday, this meant buying the drink! That task has now been accomplished!

My friend's son in Texas got his photo on the front page of the local newspaper's and it was also available on the internet for 24 hours before it disappeared. I am putting it here so Lou Ann can have a more permanent record. This group has successfully been fighting to save the local Picture Theatre.

I keep in touch with the owners of the house for rent on our right hand side as you face our place. They now live in Switzerland. I was just updating her on how the moving out had gone and Sandra told me the news about the young family who would be moving in. They have recently enjoyed a holiday in the Swiss Mountains near where they live.

Today is more party organizing stuff, Kate and Arj are both at school while the two kids are at "Day Care" which they just love.

In The Air

Today we fly to Melbourne in preparation for Trish's 60th birthday party to be celebrated with a few friends and family. The 'real' big day is tomorrow but the small party will be held on Saturday.

We are expecting a sweaty 32 degrees here today on the coast while Melbourne is expected to be 19 degrees. A quick clothes change will be in order upon our arrival down there.

Summer Lingers

The last two days have been warm here with low 30's recorded both days. The pool is a pleasant 26 degrees or so and very welcome when I return from my 10k bike ride most mornings.

I did my Skype presentation at the Computer Club on Saturday morning. I took our laptop to ensure there weren't any more hiccups like I had when previously using the Club's laptop. All was going smoothly until the internet connection dropped and took about 5 minutes to reset. But we got there eventually.

The cider I had brewing had waited long enough to be bottled so that was done this morning. I use glass bottles for cider and I have to manually apply a "cap" to each stubby. There is a bit of a knack to using the capper and it usually takes me a few goes to get back into the swing of things. But with over 50 caps to be administered you get plenty of time to get back into practice! Now we have to wait about 3 months before it can be enjoyed. That is not the best photo of me I guess!

The first quote for the new blind to go across the far end of the pergola was received today. I spent a bit of time telling the guy how we unfunded retirees had been hit hard by the financial crisis but I think it all fell on deaf ears when I read his quote. But it was worth a try. Two more quotes will come in tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow will be packing day getting ready for 2 weeks down in Melbourne. The expected temperature for Melbourne on Wednesday was 19 when I looked the other day! We had 19 overnight recently, the coolest night so far for 2009! Melbourne however is expecting mid 30's on Tuesday with strong winds. The fires from 2 weeks ago continue to burn down there and tomorrow's windy and hot weather will be a long day for everyone.